1. Medium-Term Plan 2002-2005
2. Subprogramme 7: Statistics
3. Implications for the Medium-Term Plan of the revitalization of ESCAP

I. MEDIUM-TERM PLAN 2002-2005

1. The medium-term plan of the United Nations serves as a four-year strategic plan of operation for the Organization. It has been developed based on the mandates given by the legislative bodies established by the United Nations. The plan provides a framework for the development of work programmes for implementation by the secretariat. To ensure efficient implementation of the work programme the organizational structure of the secretariat should be appropriately aligned to the plan. Further, to ensure accountability over the delivery of the work programme, an appropriate link between the programme structure and programme budget, and between the secretariat structure and the legislative bodies, should be established. Essentially, the medium-term plan guides the allocation of resources and provides the basis for formulating the biennial programme budgets covering the plan period. The ESCAP medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005 was endorsed by the Commission at its fifty-sixth session in June 2000 and approved by the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session as Programme 15: Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific.

2. The overall purpose of Programme 15 is to promote the economic and social development of members and associate members in Asia and the Pacific. Specifically, it would assist them to respond more effectively and efficiently to the rapidly changing situation in the region and thus contribute to sustained economic growth and sustainable and equitable development. The programme will reinforce national capacities to take advantage of the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization, liberalization and information technology. This will be pursued by the Bangkok-based secretariat and the ESCAP Pacific Operations Centre, in cooperation with the ESCAP regional institutions such as the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP).

3. The programme structure of ESCAP under the medium-term plan 2002-2005 comprises the following seven interdependent and complementary subprogrammes:

Subprogramme 1 Regional economic cooperation
Subprogramme 2 Development research and policy analysis
Subprogramme 3 Social development
Subprogramme 4 Population and rural and urban development
Subprogramme 5 Environment and natural resources development Subprogramme 6 Transport, communications, tourism and infrastructure development
Subprogramme 7 Statistics

II. SUBPROGRAMME 7: STATISTICS

4. The objective of Subprogramme 7 in the medium-term plan, as currently approved, is to improve the statistical capabilities of the countries/areas of the region for informed decision-making and to promote their use of information technology in the public sector, and to make comparable statistical information on the region widely and promptly available.

5. The fifty-seventh session of the Commission in April 2001 endorsed the recommendations of the twelfth session of the Committee on Statistics to limit information technology in the statistics subprogramme to activities that were directly relevant to the work of statistical offices, to add information and communication technologies (ICT) and the knowledge-based economy as an additional priority item in the programme of work, 2002-2003, and to make a corresponding amendment in the medium-term plan at the earliest opportunity.

6. Accordingly, the following changes might be proposed in the medium-term plan. Text in italics represents the medium-term plan as approved by the fifty-fifth Session of the General Assembly in early 2001, strikethrough text in italics and bold text represent proposed deletions and insertions, respectively.

Statistics medium term plan for 2002-2005 Objective The objective is to improve the statistical capabilities of the countries/areas of the region for informed decision-making and to promote their use of information technology in the public sector, and to make comparable statistical information on the region widely and promptly available. Strategy The substantive responsibility for this subprogramme lies with the Statistics Division, which will pursue the following strategy: Contribute to the improvement of the capacity of national statistical systems, particularly in priority areas as determined by the Committee on Statistics, including information and communication technologies and the knowledge-based economy, for the purposes of informed planning, policy formulation, decision-making and monitoring of progress.  Special efforts will be made to improve the statistical capability of the least developed, landlocked and island developing countries, as well as the countries with economies in transition, to identify, collect, process, analyse and utilize data needed for their economic and social development, thereby strengthening their information and statistical base, including through networking of national, subregional and regional information systems; Collect and disseminate statistical data on the countries of the region, taking into account user demands.  The focus would be on greater use of electronic technology in the acquisition and provision of data and information and on reducing the response burden of countries.  Special attention will be paid to improving the accessibility and the international comparability of the data disseminated; Strengthen the involvement of the countries of the region in the development of international standards, the use of improved methodology for data collection, processing and analysis and the greater utilization of statistics.  In line with the recommendations of the United Nations Statistical Commission, the ESCAP secretariat will initiate and coordinate at the regional level the development, revision, testing and implementation of selected international statistical standards and, where necessary, their adaptation to meet the conditions and needs of the countries of the region;  Enhance understanding of the role of information technology in statistical offices and promote the applications of that technology, as well as information resource management in the region, especially in the public sector.> Expected accomplishments would include: Increased capacity in the region to identify, collect, process, analyse and utilize data needed for national economic and social development; Improved coordination, collaboration and sharing of information on statistical development and statistical standards in the region; and  More systematic information technology planning by statistical offices and adoption of more coherent policies in this field. Indicators of achievement would include: An increase in the number of countries providing statistical data required for inclusion in the statistical publications of the secretariat;  An increase in the availability of and access to reliable and comparable national economic and social data for users; Increased participation in the development and adoption of statistical standards;  The adoption by Governments of policies on key issues affecting national statistical services and information technology planning; and  A positive evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of ESCAP outputs.

III. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MEDIUM-TERM PLAN OF THE REVITALIZATION OF ESCAP

7. In ESCAP Commission Resolution 53/1 of 30 April 1997 entitled "Restructuring the conference structure of the Commission", the Commission decided, inter alia, "to review the conference structure of the Commission, including its thematic priorities and its subsidiary structure, no later than at its fifty-eighth session" which will be held during the second quarter of 2002.

8. The incumbent Executive Secretary joined ESCAP in July 2000.  Upon assuming that post, he has informed member governments at various meetings of his intention to reform and revitalize ESCAP.  At the fifty-seventh Commission session the Executive Secretary expressed his vision for ESCAP to 2005 as comprising the transfer of proven best practices in poverty eradication in the region to developing members and associate members in different environments; reversing the weakening positions of developing members arising from the process of globalization and strengthening their negotiating position; and the detection and tackling of common social problems and issues in the region, including the increasingly serious problem of HIV/AIDS.^1/  The Commission supported the Executive Secretary's efforts at revitalization, noted his vision for ESCAP, and acknowledged the pertinence of three main areas of thematic focus.  These three areas were poverty alleviation, strengthening the weakening positions of developing countries in the context of the quickening pace of globalization (subsequently shortened to 'managing globalization') and emerging social issues.^2/

9. Subsequently the Executive Secretary established three groupings drawn from the existing Divisions of the secretariat.  The groupings, and the corresponding subprogrammes of the medium-term plan 2002-2005 if the groupings were to be carried forward into a plan structure, are shown in tabular format below:

Grouping	Divisions	MTP Subprogrammes
Poverty Alleviation	Development Research and Policy Analysis Division Population and Rural and Urban Development Division Statistics Division	2, 4, 7
Managing Globalization	Environment and Natural Resources Development DivisionInternational Trade and Industry DivisionTransport, Communications, Tourism and Infrastructure Development Division	1, 5, 6
Emerging Social Issues	Social Development Division	3

The three groupings were tasked with producing "concept papers" on poverty alleviation, managing globalization, and emerging social issues. These have now been brought together into one document entitled "Focusing ESCAP's Programme", which is available to the Working Group as STAT/WGSE.12/CRP.1. That document is intended to serve as a guide to ESCAP's programme structure at a broad level.

10. The Executive Secretary has decided that as the work programme for the biennium 2002-2003 has essentially been approved by the General Assembly, he would not propose making drastic changes to it.  He has however indicated that he envisages substantial change from 2004.  He has also indicated that he would table changes to the medium term plan to the General Assembly in due course.  At the time of writing, such possible changes to the medium-term plan in statistics, 2002-2005, are hard to predict.  An attempt to provide information on implications for statistical work in the region of possible changes in the plan, as well as in programme, conference and secretariat structures of ESCAP, is given in other documentation before the Working Group, and may be supplemented orally if there are significant new developments to report.

11. The Working Group may wish to examine the proposed changes to the medium-term plan in response to the request by the Committee on Statistics (paragraph 6) and engage in general discussion on possible further changes to the plan in the light of the revitalization process which ESCAP is undergoing (paragraphs 8 and 9).